Washboard.



UNTTEB STATES PATENT GFFTCE.

THOMAS J. HUBBARD AND WlLLlAhl W. llUBBAltl), OF LAh'lOlLLE, lLLINOlS.

WASHBOARD.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 5, 1905.

Application filed July 31,1902. Serial No. 117,890.

Be it known that we, THoims J. Hossain) and YiLLL-xii H. HUBBARD, citizens of the United States, residing' at Lamoille, in the county of Bureau and State of Illinois, have invented a new and useful Tashboarth of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in washboards.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of washboards and to provide a rubbing-surface adapted for washboards and vashing-machines and capable of holding a quantity of soap and of dispensing' or applying' the saine to the clothes or other fabrics during the operation of washing.

A further object of the invention is to provide a rubbing-surface of this character which will enable clothes to be rapidly and thoroughly washed without injuring the fabrics and without tearing the buttons therefrom.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying' drawings, and pointed out in the claim hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is an elevation of a washboard provided with a rubbing-sur- Aface constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig'. 2 is a detail perspective View of one of the rolls. Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional viewqof the same.

Corresponding' parts in the several figures are indicated by similar numerals of reference.

l designates the frame of the washboard, having side bars provided at intervals with bearings for the reception of the journals 3. Rach roll is provided at suitable intervals with longitudinal grooves dividing the roll into longitudinal ribs or portions 6, lying' between the longitudinal grooves and provided with transverse corrugations 7. The longitudinal grooves 5 may be of any desired depth, provided that they are deeper than the transverse grooves or corrugations of the ribs or portions 6. The side walls of the grooves 5 are approximately parallel to each other, and they are adapted especially for the purpose of receiving', holding', and dispensing' soap, which is to be supplied to the said grooves prior to the operation of washing and dispensed during the operation of washing' to the clothes or 'fabrics that are being operated upon. lf the side walls of the grooves 9 were permitted to diverge outwardly, the said grooves would obviously be rendered unlit for the purpose of holding' and dispensing' soap, which is the sole reason for their presence. The transverse grooves or corrugations 7 are arranged at a pitch to form threads for feeding the clothes laterally, and the transverse grooves or corrugations of the alternate rollers are reversely arranged to provideright and left hand screw-threads, the tendency of the adjacent rollers being' to move the clothes or other fabrics in opposite directions, and by this construction the clothes will be thoroughl y rubbed and at the same time supplied with soap from the dispensing-grooves It is obviously important that the grooves or corrugations 7 be spirally disposed in order that the materials rubbed over the rollers may receive a lateral feed motion with relation to the longitudinal soap-dispensing grooves in order that the contents of the latter may be evenly and perfectly distributed upon the goods that are to be washed. The soap may be supplied to the said grooves and packed therein prior to the operation of washing in any suitable convenient manner. The rollers are spaced apart to permit water to pass readily between them, so th-at the water expelled from the clothes` will run through the washboard. The latter for the same reason maybe thoroughly and quickly dried after the operation of washing` has been completed.

The improved rubbing-surface, which has been herein described, is applicable to washing-machines of various constructions, as will be readily understood.

1t will be seen that the rubbing-surface is simple and inexpensive in construction, and that it is capable of enabling clothesv to be rapidly and thoroughly cleansed without injury, and that the longitudinal grooves 5 are adapted to hold a quantity of soap and to dispense the same to the clothes or other fabrics during the operation of washing. It will be clear that during the operation of washing', owing to the alternate opposite pitch of the grooves or corrugations 7, the clothes rubbed over the rollers will partake of a zigzag movement, whereby they are moved slightly in a longitudinal direction with relation to the roller or parallel to the axis of the latter, thereby causing the soap contained in the longitudinal grooves 5 to contact with and to l be dispensed or deposited upon the clothes in IOS suiicient quantity to enable the cleansing of the clothes to be thoroughly and expeditiously performed. The grooves 5 are in no sense to be considered as corrugations for the purpose of increasing the rubbing' qualities of the washboard. On the contrary, the said grooves are to be filled with soap, which is to be packed therein prior to the commencement of the laundering operation, the quantity of soap deposited in said grooves being intended to suiiice for an entire washing unless an unusually large quantity of clothes are to be laundered.

We are aware that in various 'forms of washing-machines and washboards rubbingsurfaces have been formed of spirally-grooved rollers.

We are also aware that rollers utilized for rubbing purposes in washing-machines have been annularly grooved and provided with intersecting longitudinal grooves.

/Ve are not aware that a rubbing-surface in a washhoard or a washing-machine has ever been formed by a plurality of spirallygrooved rollers, each of said rollers being said rollers'being spirally grooved` and proy vided with longitudinal soap dispensing grooves having parallel side walls andA of greater depth than .thespiral grooves intersected thereby.

[n testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto afxed our signatures in the presence of two Witnesses.

THOMAS J. HUBBARD, WILLIAM W. HUBBARD.

NVituesses:

JOHN GOEDTNER, DAN C. HASKELL. 

